Congratulations! You made it! You survived and excelled in your student teaching. You are now a science teacher! If you would, take a few minutes to share your wisdom about how to negotiate this difficult year with the students who are following in your footsteps by answering the following questions.
a. What are some things students should do in their fall practicum to make their student teaching go more smoothly?
I would ask if you could take the attendence in the fall so that you already know the names of the students when you finally begin teaching in the spring; it helps a lot if you don't have to learn the names while your teaching because during the first few classes you do feel a little nervous and if you already know the students names its one less thing to be worried about.
b. What 430 topics/assignments should students make sure are addressed in detail to prepare them for student teaching?
I would spend a lot of time on the unit plan. Reviewing the content is good but the biggest thing would be to think of good questions at all levels to ask the students and think of ways to get all of the students involved when questioning. Think about how you're going to present the material and think to yourself, "is this boring to me?" and if it is it will definitely be boring to the students and you should think of a different way to present the material.
c. Help the next group of science education student teachers by completing the thought: "If I knew in September what I know now, I could have been better prepared for student teaching if I had ...."
...really thought about what my HS classes were like; not only the good classes or bad classes but how the students behaved. I know it was a shock to me when some students didn't do a homework assignment because in HS I remember doing my homework just because I was supposed to but you need to think about the students that might not do it just because they are supposed to do their homework. You need to think of a way to make the homework and classwork interesting and have goals so that the students know why they are doing the work and try to make it fun for them to do the assignments or some students might not do them.
d. Are there other words of wisdom/encouragement that you want to share?
Over winter break I would plan as many classes as you can so that you don't have to stay awake at night thinking about what you're going to do the next day. Before planning ask you CT how long he/she takes with the topics so that you know how quickly you should move. Also, when you are planning don't just plan the topics, CREATE the worksheets ahead of time because they take a long time to make. I mentioned planning over winter break but February break comes really quickly and by then you should have an idea of how the classes will go so during break you should plan a lot because you will teach for about 8 weeks without a break before you have spring break and if you can get ahead you will have a lot less stress.
When you get into the classroom be strict at first because you can get easier but after you let the students get away with a few things its very hard to get the classroom back under control.
One last thing, have fun, it does get stressful at times so when you know of a fun activity make the best of it. Good luck!
a. What are some things students should do in their fall practicum to make their student teaching go more smoothly?
I would ask if you could take the attendence in the fall so that you already know the names of the students when you finally begin teaching in the spring; it helps a lot if you don't have to learn the names while your teaching because during the first few classes you do feel a little nervous and if you already know the students names its one less thing to be worried about.
b. What 430 topics/assignments should students make sure are addressed in detail to prepare them for student teaching?
I would spend a lot of time on the unit plan. Reviewing the content is good but the biggest thing would be to think of good questions at all levels to ask the students and think of ways to get all of the students involved when questioning. Think about how you're going to present the material and think to yourself, "is this boring to me?" and if it is it will definitely be boring to the students and you should think of a different way to present the material.
c. Help the next group of science education student teachers by completing the thought: "If I knew in September what I know now, I could have been better prepared for student teaching if I had ...."
...really thought about what my HS classes were like; not only the good classes or bad classes but how the students behaved. I know it was a shock to me when some students didn't do a homework assignment because in HS I remember doing my homework just because I was supposed to but you need to think about the students that might not do it just because they are supposed to do their homework. You need to think of a way to make the homework and classwork interesting and have goals so that the students know why they are doing the work and try to make it fun for them to do the assignments or some students might not do them.
d. Are there other words of wisdom/encouragement that you want to share?
Over winter break I would plan as many classes as you can so that you don't have to stay awake at night thinking about what you're going to do the next day. Before planning ask you CT how long he/she takes with the topics so that you know how quickly you should move. Also, when you are planning don't just plan the topics, CREATE the worksheets ahead of time because they take a long time to make. I mentioned planning over winter break but February break comes really quickly and by then you should have an idea of how the classes will go so during break you should plan a lot because you will teach for about 8 weeks without a break before you have spring break and if you can get ahead you will have a lot less stress.
When you get into the classroom be strict at first because you can get easier but after you let the students get away with a few things its very hard to get the classroom back under control.
One last thing, have fun, it does get stressful at times so when you know of a fun activity make the best of it. Good luck!